Ask a Graduate Student

These are our graduate student ambassadors. They are available to answer questions relating to the William & Mary graduate program in Anthropology. Feel free to contact them with your questions.

Victoria Gum is a 4th year Ph.D. student. Contact Victoria

Hello! I am a 4^th year PhD student working with Dr. Andrea Wright. My dissertation research focuses on reproductive healthcare, assisted reproductive technologies, and family-making in the United States. I am particularly interested in how technologies like embryo adoption, along with other biomedical advances such as DNA analysis, impact American conceptions of kinship and relatedness.

My MA, which I completed in 2023 also at William & Mary, was focused on historical archaeology, community engaged research, and the politics of representation at the First Baptist Church site in Colonial Williamsburg. I worked as a historical archaeologist on and off for about 10 years at Colonial Williamsburg and other organizations in Eastern Virginia. Also, I have lived in the Williamsburg area since 2013, so feel free to ask me any questions about the area.

Jennifer Browne is a 3rd year MA/Ph.D. student. Contact Jenn

Hi there! I’m a 3rd year PhD student in historical archaeology, working under Dr. Audrey Horning. My research focuses on a 1781 Revolutionary War cemetery located here in Williamsburg. I use the theoretical perspectives from conflict archaeology and archeothanatology to understand the spatial distribution of the 158 grave shafts and their associated material assemblages.

I received my BA in anthropology and archaeology and a certificate in museum studies from Connecticut College. After undergrad, I worked with a CRM firm in New England and completed projects in the New York area. Since coming to William & Mary, I have worked with a few organizations in and outside of Virginia. I interned with the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) as a field tech on their excavation at Manassas National Battlefield Park. I have also participated in metal detection surveys with Heritage Consultants on their battlefield archaeology projects in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Most recently, I interned with the Colonial Williamsburg Archaeology Lab, working with their field crew on excavations at the Peter Scott site, John Custis site, and the Governor’s Palace Cemetery site, and assisting in their summer field school as a teaching assistant.

If you have questions about W&M, collaboration with archaeological projects in and outside of Virginia, securing off-campus housing, or anything in-between, shoot me an email!

Adam Kingery is a 2nd year MA/Ph.D. student. Contact Adam

Hello! I am a 2nd year MA/PhD student in Historical Archaeology, working under the supervision of Dr. Martin Gallivan. My research interests include time/temporality, placemaking, and trade interactions in indigenous Virginia, especially focusing through the lens of ceramics and perishable goods.

I came to William and Mary from Texas after finishing my undergrad at Trinity University in San Antonio, where I also got experience in archaeological and chemical lab work. Having just come out of undergrad, I have experience managing the transition from undergrad to graduate life; so, so please reach out if you have any questions about it! Additionally, I have loved living in Williamsburg; and please reach out if you have any questions about life within the Anthropology department, as a graduate student, or about Williamsburg in general!

Maia Wilson is a 6th year Ph.D. student. Contact Maia

Hi Griffin hopeful! I am a 6th year Ph.D. student working under the supervision of Dr. Michelle Lelievre and Dr. Joe Jones. I also work as a graduate research assistant at the Institute for Historical Biology under Dr. Michael Blakey and Dr. Joe Jones. My research interests are Black Feminist archaeology, Black and Indigenous history, Black repatriation politics, and family- and community-based research in the southeast United States. My main site of work is a collection of my family's historic homesteads and familial burial grounds in rural VA. I have previously worked with legacy collections. I’m an archaeologist who is not digging for her PhD. 

I received my M.A. at Uni of Idaho (yeah… Idaho) in Anthropology on Black history at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (Indigenous ceremonial homeland), but I am very at home in Williamsburg, Va as the daughter of Portsmouth, Va natives. I am a retired National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and Kelso Fellow. I am very familiar with the processes for applying to and navigating NSF external funding while at William & Mary. If you’ve got questions about the NSF, please reach out. Further, I served as the Social Media Chair for the Anthropology Graduate Student Collective and later as the Anthropology Department Representative for the Graduate Student Assembly. I am a registered archaeological volunteer at Colonial Williamsburg (which comes with a lovely parking sticker), and I have interned with Colonial Historical National Park’s Cultural Resources team at Yorktown and Jamestown. So, if you are looking for ways to get involved here at William & Mary and beyond in the greater Williamsburg area, I’m happy to chat and connect you with folks if I can. I participated in the Graduate Student Assembly’s DEI Peer to Peer Mentoring Program for graduate Arts & Sciences students. I also have connections with the Black Student Organization. I take BIPOC, Queer, and mental health resources and support very seriously, and many of us carry multiple marginalized identities that deserve greater services. I’m here to help you connect with them. If you want recommendations on what to do and some information on potential areas to live in Williamsburg, I can offer insight. We can chat about grad life, the Graduate Arts & Sciences program, anthropology at W&M and more!